Ore-separating apparatus



(No Model.) A

J.- K. HALLOWELL.

ORE SEPARATI NG APPARATUS. I No. 447,027. I PatentedIF-eo. 24, 1891.

as co., mow-mum, WASHINGKON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT Unmet,

JOllN K. HALLOVEEL, OF CAMDEN, NE\V JERSEY.

ORE-SEPARATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 447,027, dated February24, 1891. Application filed June 13, 1888- Serial No. 277,023. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN K. HALLOWELL, of Camden, in the county ofCamden and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ore-Separating Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates, more particularly stated,to animprovement for usein the known manner of ore separation, wherein to attain the desiredresult the ore in a pulverized condition is forced by means ofair-currents over a series of receptacles located below the plane of theair-currents and into which the particles of ore carried by theair-currents are dropped successively by and according to their specificgravities. 1

The object of my improvement is to enable the manner stated as havingbeen hitherto employed for producing the separation to be the moreeffectually practiced, and this I accomplish by my improved apparatushereinafter described, and shown in sectional elevation in the accmpanying drawing. I

' A denotes a building or inclosure containing the entiremechanism-namely, a pulverizing-maohine Bin which 1) denotes heaters andsituated atthe lower end of an inclined course of the material actedupon and which is defined by the inlet ends of any desired number ofvertically-disposed receptacles or bins, of which five are shown andindicated, respectively, by f, g, h, 2 andj, and an exhaust-fan O at theopposite upper end of the inclined plane, the exhaust-fan being providedwith an inlet-pipe d. The bins are provided, as shown, withhopper-shaped bottoms having the outlets 0. In the first or lowestreceptacle f is a false bottom Z, inclining downward to coincide withthe upper part of the base of a return-passage m, leading to an upperairinlet passage 0 in the pulverizing-machine, and a valve n is providedat the inlet end of the passage m. The pulverizing-machine B ispartitioned off, as shown, from the compartment containing the bins andcommunicates therewith above the latter through an opening covered by ascreen 19. The partitions 10 between and forming the receptacles extendfrom the fiooro' and increase in height from that nearest the screen 19to the end of the compartment containing the receptacles,

where the exhaust-fan C communicates with it, and operates when set inmotion to draw air-currents upward through the compartment from thepulverizer in a direction inclined from the horizontal, the base of theair-currents being about at the line indicated by the arrows at e. Theore as it is pulverized is drawn by the suction effect of the fan 0 withthe air-currents through the screen 19 in the'ascending directionindicated by the arrows 6. The heaviest particles of the ore drop intothe receptacle f, the next heaviest into the receptacle g, and so on,the particles dropping into the successive receptacles in the order oftheir specific gravities, the different lots or grades being preventedfrom becoming intermixed in the receptacles by the successively risingpartitions, which, as indicated by the curved arrows at k, intercept thematerial belonging in the bins they respectively define against beingpassed by its inertia beyond the bin in which it belongs. In many casesa portion of the ore will not be pulverized sufficiently to haveeffected an approxi* mately complete separation of mineral or metal fromthe inclosing rock or gangue. This portion will seek the bin f, lodgingon the false bottom Z thereof and passing thence through the air-inlet 0back into the pulverizer to be again subjected to its action. Whererepulverizing of the material is not required, the valve n, otherwiseopen, is closed and the false bottom 1 removed to permit, as in the caseof all the receptacles, the material to lodge in thehopper-bottoms ofthebins,whence it may be withdrawn through the outlets 0. This manner ofeffecting the separation according to differences in the specificgravity of the material isadvantageo'us both in complex sulphide andtellnride ores, wherein the ICO To definitely describe the effect of thetreatment with my improved apparatus upon a particular kind of ore, takea complex sulphide ore, the value of which is in silver, but thematerial of Which is composed of quartz, galena, iron pyrite, graycopper, and zincblende. By the action .of the described apparatus thelargest percentage of galenawould be found in the receptacle g, of theiron pyr ite in the receptacle h, the greatest value in gray copper inthe receptacle i, and a mingled material composed of zinc-blende andgray copper With some of the finer particles of galena and iron pyritein the receptacle 3'. Each receptacle would then contain the pulverizedmineral separated for the most part in a degree, each variety beinglargely by itself, but all mingled With larger particles of gangue of adegree of specific gravity relative to each separation; and as thusreduced the material is in condition to be further treated, for sizingit or screening it, if necessary, and to have the largest percentage ofeach variety of mineral value kept by itself.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An ore-separating apparatus comprising, in combination with an inclosureA, a pulverizer 13, having an air-inlet passage 0 and communicatingthrough an opening covered by a screen 1) with a compartment containingreceptacles having their defining partitions extended successivelyhigher from the pulverizer to define a gradually-rising plane, anexhaust-fan C, communicating with the said compartment near the upperend of the inclined plane, a false bottom Z in the lowermost receptacle,a return-passage m, leading in to the p ulverizer through its air-inletc, and a valve 12 for the passage m, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

JOHN K. IIALLO\VELL.

Witnesses:

F. G. FAROR, CHAS. W. PILE.

